Counting the number of the twists of certain polarized abelian varieties (Q2168949)

Let \(k\) be a perfect field, a polarized abelian variety \((X,\lambda)\) over \(k\) is given by: (1) an abelian variety \(X\) over \(k\), (2) a polarization \(\lambda:X\rightarrow X^\vee\) on \(X\) defined over \(k\), where \(X^\vee\) denotes the dual abelian variety of \(X\). One has the natural notion of a homomorphism (resp. a \(k\)-isomorphism/\(F\)-isomorphism (for any field extension \(F/k\))) between two polarized abelian varieties. Let \(K\) be a Galois extension of \(k\), a pair \((X',\lambda')\) is called a (\(K/k\))-twist of \((X,\lambda)\) if \((X',\lambda')\) is a polarized abelian variety over \(k\), and there exists a \(K\)-isomorphism between the base extension of polarized abelian varieties \((X'_K,\lambda'_K)\) and \((X_K,\lambda_K)\). One standard fact, which the authors give a detailed proof in the paper, says that the set of \(k\)-isomorphism classes of \((K/k)\)-twists of \((X,\lambda)\) over \(k\) is one to one correspondence to \(H^1(K/k,\mathrm{ Aut}_K(X_K,\lambda_K))\). The first main result is on the counting problem on such a set. The authors introduce the degree of a \((\overline{k}/k)\)-twist \((X',\lambda')\) of \((X,\lambda)\), which is defined as the degree of the minimal defining field of the corresponding \(\overline{k}\)-isomorphism between \((X',\lambda')\) and \((X,\lambda)\). Then they get the following theorem: let \((X,\lambda)\) be an absolutely simple polarized abelian variety of odd prime dimension \(g\) over a finite field with characteristic \(\geq 5\), then the authors can determine explicitly the number of \((\overline{k}/k)\)-twists of \((X,\lambda)\) of degree \(d\) in terms of the eigenvalues of the Frobenius on \(\mathrm{Aut}_{\overline{k}}(X_{\overline{k}},\lambda_{\overline{k}})\). The main ingredient for the proof is the above interpretation in terms of Galois cohomology group, and its behavior under the inflation-restriction sequence. Also, the cyclicity of \(\mathrm{Aut}_{\overline{k}}(X_{\overline{k}},\lambda_{\overline{k}})\) and the Möbius inversion formula play roles in the arguments. The second result of the paper is an explicit list of possible number of \((\overline{k}/k)\)-twists of a simple abelian surface \((X,\lambda)\) over a finite field \(k\) with characteristic \(p\equiv 41,89\mod 120\) and \(\mathrm{Aut}_k(X,\lambda)=\mathrm{Dic}_{12}\). Here, Dic\(_{12}\) is the dicyclic group of order \(12\). An important notion using in the proof is the realizable maximally in the isogeny class of \(X\). Also, some explicit calculations using Honda-Tate theory and the interpretation using the Galois cohomology and Frobenius conjugacy classes play roles in the proof.